The meeting was not without it’s fair share of actual, noteworthy highlights, however, so let’s get to them…

- If you recall, Jake Shields fought Ed Herman in a middleweight contest at UFC 150 back in 2012, emerging victorious via unanimous decision. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Shields had tested positive for a banned substance, resulting in a $5,675 fine and his win being overturned. What Shields tested positive for exactly remained a mystery until yesterday’s meeting, when in the process of applying for a fight license for his upcoming WSOF 17 main event fight with Brian Foster, Shields admitted to using diuretics, not Mary Jane as we had suspected, prior to UFC 150. (via MMAFighting):

Shields said he was given the diuretics in 2012 by someone he knew from fighting, but not a fellow fighter. He said it was someone he didn’t know very well and called it a “mistake.”

“I learn from my mistakes,” Shields said. “I’d like to think that, at least. I’m not one to go through what I went through before.”

“I didn’t know it was banned, but it was my fault,” he said. “It was my responsibility.”

Why? Because, and you’re going to find this hilarious if we know your sense of humor, he actually tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite in cocaine, in a random drug test administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on December 4th.

Jones released a statement to Yahoo Sports earlier this evening, which can be found below.

With the support of my family, I have entered into a drug treatment facility. I want to apologize to my fiancée, my children, as well as my mother, father, and brothers for the mistake that I made. I also want to apologize to the UFC, my coaches, my sponsors and equally important to my fans. I am taking this treatment program very seriously. Therefore, at this time my family and I would appreciate privacy.

2015 is off to a rough start for a handful of UFC fighters, Potato Nation. According to a pair of tweets sent out by @FightersInfo (which have been confirmed by several of the names mentioned), the UFC has released seven more fighters from its roster and lost another to retirement. Fight Night: Dickshooterwill surely suffer from this.

Let’s get to the casualties, shall we?

Isaac Vallie-Flagg: After transitioning to the UFC following the Strikeforce merger in 2012, Vallie-Flagg quickly established a reputation as one of the lightweight division’s most consistently entertaining brawlers. Unfortunately, his inconsistent at best 1-3 record inside the octagon just wasn’t doing it. Following his third straight loss to Matt Wiman at Fight Night 57 in November, Flagg announced his release from the UFC via Twitter last week, stating that “sometimes putting on a fun show isn’t enough” before seeing if his old buddy Scott Coker was in need of someone who “comes to scrap.”

Guto Inocente: Another Strikeforce veteran and one who was riding a ton of hype into the UFC until Alistair Overeem’d him in training, Inocente made his long-awaited (and long-delayed) UFC debut at the TUF 19 Finale against Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis. It did not end well. Inocente made the cut to light heavyweight for his next bout and came in as a huge favorite against (my boy) Anthony Perosh at Fight Night 55, but the 42-year-old “Hippo” was simply too grizzled and choked him out inside four minutes.

2015′s first “Photo of the Year” nomination goes to MMAFighting‘s Esther Lin, who captured the demoralizing moment at UFC 182 when Jon Jones palmed Daniel Cormier‘s head at the end of round 4, after taking the former Olympic wrestler down repeatedly. Cormier can barely summon the will to get angry; his spirit had already been broken.

Of all the things that went so, so wrong for the UFC in 2014, the biggest positive that could be taken away was easily the promotion’s decision to begin drug-testing its athletes in house and year-round. As luck would have it, 2014 also went down as one of the druggiest years in MMA since the PRIDE days (allegedly). Random, out-of-competition drug testing was an expensive but necessary step forward and one that helped quell the near-constant questions regarding the legitimacy of the organization’s product. And it was working, dammit.

“Our legal team completed screwed that up. We f—-d it up, and we will f–k it up again. That’s what the commission is there for,” he said.

White continued by saying that, while they have come to the realization that the promotion cannot oversee its own drug testing program, Zuffa will instead give more money to athletic commissions to help fund additional testing.

“What we’ll do is we’ll help fund it, so they can do more drug testing,” he said. “Our legal department screwed that whole thing up. We’ve got no business handling the regulation.”

Throughout his career, it’s always seemed like the one thing Jackson really wants to do is something else. When he’s fighting, he wants to be acting. When he’s acting, he’d rather be fighting. If he’s doing MMA, boxing starts to sound like a great idea. No matter where he stands, the greenest grass seems to grow everywhere except beneath his feet.

It’s hard to argue with. The former UFC fighter-turned former Bellator fighter-turned current UFC fighter has been a man without a country for the entirety of his career (if you were to ask him), with his most recent “tongue-kissing” stint at Bellator (Ed note: Gross.) lasting just three fights and less than a year. Given what we know about his employment history, you’re probably wondering: What exactly was the root of Jackson’s problems *this* time around?

The answer, as it turns out, is one you probably could have guessed: Bjorn Rebney — a.k.a the man that signed Jackson — was only able to do so by making a whole heap of promises that were…ambitious to say the least. We’re talking movie deals, reality shows, and a pro wrasslin’ career that included more than a hammer to the skull, folks. So check out the exclusive statement sent to MMAFighting by Jackson’s manager after the jump.

Long considered to be one of the more soft-spoken fighters in the UFC’s ranks, featherweight champion Jose Aldo has grown increasingly frustrated, not to mention vocal, about the state of fighter pay in recent months. Like Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead, Aldo has simply run out of fucks to give when it comes to airing his grievances about his longtime promotion.

We should be treated better. Not only by the UFC but also by media. We are well treated by the fans. We make a lot less money than we should. We deliver shows and should be well paid. We virtually pay to fight. To become a boxer is complicated but would be very good.